White House announced new manufacturing hub in Ohio to promote 3D printing

White House officials announced today a $30 million investment to create a National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute in Youngstown, Ohio aiming at boosting 3D printing technology.

President Barack Obama's administration will announce details today at M7 Technologies in Youngstown of a partnership between dozens of several private industries, universities and economic development organizations in three-state area: Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The partnership was selected through a competitive process, led by the Department of Defense, and the private industry consortium will add another $40 million to the pilot program.

The consortium will develop additive manufacturing technology, also known as 3D printing. The technology speeds up production time, while decreasing the cost of products and it will affect a range of industries including defense, aerospace and automotive.

"This institute will help make sure that the manufacturing jobs of tomorrow take root not in places like China or India, but right here in the United States of America," Obama said in a statement. "That's how we'll put more people back to work and build an economy that lasts."

The President's proposal for a NNMI is part of his comprehensive plan to revitalize American manufacturing. In March President Obama announced his plan to invest $1 billion to create up to 15 manufacturing innovation institutes around the country. The Youngstown facility will be the first established in the program.

In order to create an economy built to last, America needs to make more things the rest of the world wants to buy. After losing millions of good manufacturing jobs in the years before and during the deep recession, the economy has added over 530,000 manufacturing jobs since February 2010 —the strongest growth for any 30 month period since 1989. Companies are also increasingly choosing to invest in the U.S. and bring jobs back. While there's more work to be done, steps like today's announcement build on this momentum. ....

As part of his Administration's We Can't Wait initiative, President Obama also announced immediate steps to launch a pilot institute to serve as a proof-of concept for the NNMI. Five federal agencies - the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Commerce, the National Science Foundation, and NASA – jointly committed to invest $45 million in a pilot institute on additive manufacturing. Today's announcement of an initial $30 million award under existing authorities is matched by $40 million from the winning consortium.

Youngstown, Ohio and the surrounding region knows what happens when manufacturing production declines. But in this area once known as the 'rust belt', investments like this new pilot institute demonstrate the potential within a region to bring together the capabilities of America's companies and universities, in partnership with the federal government, to invest in the cutting-edge technologies and skills our manufacturers need to compete. With this initiative, Youngstown is poised to become the epicenter of burgeoning new industries from its leadership in additive manufacturing or 3-D printing.

Background on the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute:

The NAMII will provide the innovation infrastructure needed to support new additive manufacturing technology and products in order to become a global center of excellence for additive manufacturing. This pilot institute will bridge the gap between basic research and product development for additive manufacturing, create an environment to educate and train workers in advanced additive manufacturing skills.

NAMII is led by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, and includes:

9 Research Universities: Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Kent State University, Lehigh University, Penn State University, Robert Morris University, University of Akron, University of Pittsburgh, Youngstown State University

5 Community Colleges: Eastern Gateway Community College, Lorain County Community College, Northampton Community College, Penn College of Technology, Westmoreland County Community College